We’ve heard that many of you appreciate a quick checklist for charitable giving reminders each December. We know you receive this type of information from many sources, and frequently in great detail. We decided to break things down into three simple points. To dive deeper, we encourage you to reach out to our team at CFAAC.

First, in the midst of recent flurry surrounding the Build Back Better legislation, clients won’t want to forget about the charitable giving provisions from 2020 COVID-19 relief legislation that carried over to 2021, notably the $300 individual “universal deduction” even for non-itemizers. Helpful to itemizers is the allowance for cash contributions to charities to be deducted up to 100% of adjusted gross income. This allowance creates an ideal opportunity for your clients to “bundle” or “bunch” their charitable gifts this year, taking full advantage of the limited-time ability to offset significant levels of income. Donor Advised Funds are not eligible recipients of these cash contributions; however, Designated Funds and Field-of-Interest Funds at the Community Foundation can qualify and are very useful philanthropy planning tools. 

Second, never assume that your clients will remember the benefits of donating highly-appreciated securities to a charitable organization or fund at CFAAC. While it may seem obvious to those of us in the business, clients do not live and breathe the tax laws like we do. Remind clients that frequently the best way to fund their charitable giving is through highly-appreciated assets. 

Third, let your clients know that charitable giving is still an important priority and that most people who give to charity still plan to do so, even this year after the wild ride of the pandemic. Clients might appreciate seeing the data, including a study recently released by Classy showing that 84% of donors planned to give to charities at the same or higher level this